1. Gratitude. Give thanks to God for all the gifts that God has given us.
2. Grace. Ask for God's grace to know our sins and to accept God's forgiveness.
3. Examination. Review our day, from the moment we rise till we go to bed, reflecting on thoughts, words and deeds, in order that the entire day can be brought to the light of God's grace and mercy.
4. Forgiveness. Submitting our day to God, we ask God to forgive us of our faults, remembering that the purpose for facing our sin is so that we can know and live in God's love more profoundly.
5. Resolve. We resolve to amend what we have done wrong through the grace of God. We close by praying the Lord's Prayer.

Multitudes of Christians have found the Daily Examen to be beneficial in allowing them to bathe daily in the love and grace and forgiveness of God and to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Today, I am mindful of the first point in the Examen: Gratitude. And I am mindful especially of my gratitude to God for all of the many friends and supporters of Louisville Seminary who have made it possible this year for us to engage in a mission that we believe is indispensable to the life and health of the church.

Thank you for making it possible every day for our professors to teach and form the next generation of leaders for the church. Our students learn to bridge differences in our church and society in the name of Christ. They learn to lead congregations with theological and biblical integrity. They learn "to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God." (Micah 6:8)

Thank you for making it possible for our professors to do important research that will enrich the church and contribute to the church's life and work. This year you helped make it possible for Amy Plantinga Pauw to write a new theological commentary on the biblical books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, for Shannon Craigo-Snell to bring together resources from the worlds of theater and theology to better inform the worship of the church. You have supported research into the spiritual and emotional lives of children conducted by Brad Wigger, into the New Testament book of Galatians by Marty Soards, and into the intersections of pastoral counseling and interfaith education by Carol Cook. And this only scratches the surface of the contributions our faculty have made this year because of you.

Thank you for making it possible for our students and for leaders in our community to benefit from lectures and classes and workshops that challenge us, nourish us, and send us forth into the world renewed in the name of Jesus Christ. You have contributed to some of the most important efforts for justice, interfaith understanding, anti-racism and theological advancement imaginable.

Someone recently asked me what the best part of my job is as president of Louisville Seminary. The best part of my job is meeting and knowing you, the generous people who selflessly give of your time, talents and resources to ensure that our future ministers and other church leaders will be well-educated and well-prepared to lead.

The need for your generosity has never been greater, and our gratitude is commensurate with the need. The amount of support seminaries receive today from denominations is very small. In the case of Louisville Seminary, we receive less than 1% of our budget from our denomination.

If it were not for your generosity, theological education would already have become a thing of the past. But you have come through, again and again. Because of your generosity we just sent another class of ministers to serve congregations; therapists to counsel families and individuals; and chaplains to serve in hospitals, social service agencies and in the military.

You have made all of this happen. Next fall, because of your continued generosity, Louisville Seminary will be able to provide theological education and preparation for ministry to every master’s degree student tuition-free. Thank you.

We still have "miles to go before we sleep," as the poet Robert Frost said. There is a lot more money left to raise in order to endow the tuition scholarship program. We face many of the challenges that other seminaries face. But because of you, we are in a wonderful position to meet the challenges of today's world. So, once again, thank you for the time, talent and resources you have shared with Louisville Seminary this year so that we might continue to remain true to our calling, "to educate men and women to participate in the redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ in the world."

If I might paraphrase the apostle Paul just a little, "for all of these reasons I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers." (Ephesians 1:16)